by Tigris Eden
Of course. Now, they needed her.
“I’ll try and make it in tomorrow. I’ve just returned from a long-ass flight. Plus, I’m not due back in until the day after tomorrow.”
“Sure thing, Olivia.” Santiago shut the door in their faces.
“You need to tell him, Olivia,” Blue growled again.
“I will.”
“When?”
“At work.”
“I’ll have to go with you.”
“What on earth for?”
“You’re in danger. We left for a reason, mainly to keep you and the others safe. Until we can figure out how to handle your newly acquired gift, we need to be on high alert.”
Shit just kept getting better.
Tension crackled between Olivia and Blue as the elevator rose to her floor. She wanted to say more about their situation but delayed the conversation. She needed a shower, and hot tea to soothe her nerves. When she opened the door to her apartment, Blue put a hand on her stomach, holding her back.
“Wait right here. I need to make sure everything is clear.”
Olivia watched Blue as he stepped inside. Her gut clenched with apprehension. A foul odor scented the air.
“Blue?” Olivia called out. He didn’t answer. “Knock it off, if you’re trying to scare me, it’s working.” Still nothing.
Olivia placed her palm flat on the door and pushed it open. Blue stood with a man she’d not seen before. Tall, wearing an expensive three-piece Armani suit, his soulless eyes watched her.
“Ah, so you’re the Arrow?” the man asked.
“No, I’m Olivia. Who the fuck are you, and why are you in my apartment?”
“Bödvar didn’t mention me? We’re old friends. Aren’t we?” the man asked Blue. He stood there with a look of horror on his face. Frozen.
“Blue? Why aren’t you saying anything?”
“Oh, he can’t speak right now. He’s under my control. Like the good dog he is, he’ll always listen to his master.”
Olivia took a step back, her entire frame vibrating with anger and electricity. Her skin tingled, the hairs on the back of her neck and along her arms rose. Fear clouded her mind for a moment before it was replaced by determination.
“You will let him go,” she said in a steady voice.
“Or what?”
“You’ll be sorry.”
The man shook his head before grinning widely and showing a perfect set of white fangs.
As if on impulse, her arm stretched forward, and in her hand, a silver arrow appeared. Olivia didn’t think, she acted. Her arm reached back and, with an accuracy she’d never possessed before, she threw the arrow and watched as it cut through the air, hitting its target square between the eyes. Blue dropped to his knees, shaking his head.
“Olivia, get back,” Blue growled. His shoulders popped. Bones crunched beneath his shirt, and his arms and legs twisted into an awkward position. He was starting to change. FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!
Stepping back, she placed her hand over her mouth and watched in horror as the change took Blue.
13
Blue never imagined that Adriano still lived, or that he was still able to control him. Adriano was the only person who still held power over him. A witch had cursed his armor, and who ever had wielded a fragment, controlled him. His bones snapped, causing pain to travel the length of his spine, bringing him to the floor. This type of change was forced. His skin tightened as his bones cracked, turning him into the beast. Something he’d kept at bay for more than six hundred years. He didn’t want Olivia to see, but there was no stopping it now. If she ran, he’d chase her. The others had only glimpsed his true form, but never the full extent of his change. There was never any use for the beast in Alaska, even when Roman and his men tried to take over the mountain. But to protect Olivia, it seemed he had very little say in the matter. He went totally berserk.
“Don’t run,” he garbled around the teeth he had left. She must have understood because she became rooted to the spot. Her eyes widened, and her pupils turned to pinpoints as she kept a close eye on him.
“I’m not going to leave you like this,” she whispered.
His claws dug into the wood floor, scoring it repeatedly as Blue did his best not to cry out in pain. Adriano lay prone on the floor with the arrow sticking out from between his eyes. The male on the floor was still alive, his breath labored as his body tried to expel the arrow lodged in his skull. Blue could see the bronzed piece of metal in the man’s hand, a constant reminder of Blue’s time in Ambrogio’s death squad.
His kind was put into mercenary units enslaved to fight for the Hunters until their deaths. Their payment consisted of the blood of their kin. His mother and father were already dead, and his grandfather had sold him into slavery, leaving him no other choice but to commit to the guard. Blue’s fierceness and cold heart had earned him a high rank among the guard, with Adriano and Ambrogio appreciating his talents. Memories of a time he’d thought long buried assaulted his mind.
Hundreds of bodies separated from their limbs soaked the ground a muddy red. All this death for a princess and her brother. Bödvar reveled in the carnage. He couldn’t wait until they reached Abydos, their next destination. On this night, weapons had not felled a single member of his guard. No, on this night, they were victorious, and would be for many more battles to come.
“You fought well,” Adriano said as he stood from crouching before one of the men who might have survived if not for his master’s constant craving for blood. He was covered from head to toe as if he’d dipped himself in it just for the pleasure. “Ambrogio will want to reward you, Bödvar, give you the gift of one night with a female.”
This had his body stirring. How long had it been since he’d lain with a woman?
“I accept his offer.”
“Good. I hear this one is a bound beauty. A woman from the far east.”
Chiyoko, child of a thousand generations. The memory of her was a distant one for Blue, but in his mind, as he stood in front of Olivia in his true form, he remembered the woman from his past. She had been the one to teach him everything he now knew about rope play. She was a true artisan, and for a time, she’d been his only friend. He would share those gifts with Olivia, and she would come to crave his touch much like he craved hers, but he couldn’t think on those things now. He had unfinished business to attend to with the Hunter sprawled on Olivia’s floor.
His chest expanded with effort as he tried to calm his racing heart. Adriano’s body moved, the blood on the floor making its way back into his body.
“Look away, Olivia. You don’t want to see this.”
“Blue, I can handle it.”
He nodded his head once. There wasn’t any time to argue. He’d deal with the fallout later.
Blue didn’t waste time ending the Hunter’s life. He used his claws, ripping the man’s head from his shoulders. Then, he punched through his rib cage, taking Adriano’s heart. As was customary for his kind, Blue looked to Olivia and offered it up to his mate. “For you.” He laid it at her feet and continued to dismember Adriano’s body until there was nothing left but torn limbs and a head separated from its body.
“Um, what do you want me to do with the heart?”
“Normally, I’d ask you to share it with me. But these are different times.”
“What would happen if you were to eat it?”
“I’d gain his powers.”
Her face twisted up in confusion before it relaxed when she saw he was serious.
“No shit?”
Blue smiled.
“You look different. It’s kind of scary, but at the same time, it has some appeal to it. You don’t look at all what I thought a werewolf would look like.”
“That’s because I’m not a werewolf, Olivia. I’m a Berserker. There is a difference. I’m a distant cousin to those who are descendants of Anubis. I was given this life because of Odin, and a direct descendant of his wolves Geri and Freki. There were Clans of the Dr
agon and Bear orders, but as far as I know, I am the only one left of my kind.”
“Odin?”
Blue nodded his head before asking. “Do you have any large trash bags?”
“Don’t you need to burn the body?”
“I can, but it’s not necessary. Adriano isn’t coming back. But I need to clean up your apartment.”
“Right. You’re welcome, by the way. That’s twice I saved your ass.”
She was grinning. He would have kissed her if he weren’t coated in blood. And he didn’t think she’d be as welcoming with him in his current form.
“Trash bags, beautiful. Then I want a shower.”
“What about the heart?”
“It is yours. As I said, my gift to you.”
“I’m not eating that thing,” she squeaked.
“Didn’t say you had to. You are my mate, and it’s my way of acknowledging you.”
“Yeah, okay.”
He watched Olivia walk to her kitchen. She was in shock. Her body seemingly moved of its own accord, but her mind appeared disconnected from the bloody scene in front of her. Blue knew what she saw when she looked at him. A monster. How could she not? When she returned to the living area, Blue stepped forward, and she took a step back.
“My apologies.” He retreated into the living room.
“It’s not your fault. I just need to get used to you. How long will you stay like this?”
He knew she’d ask that question sooner rather than later.
“Tomorrow this time.”
“You’re going to remain like this for twenty-four hours?” she squeaked.
He nodded once.
“Okay, we can do this, right? I mean, we’ll just stay here. No reason to go out. I can order in, get some work done at home, and when you get back to…”—Olivia shot her arms forward palms up—“well, you, then we can go about doing what we set out to do, right?”
He nodded again.
“Load up the dead dude in the bag. I’ll take him down.”
“No, he stays here in the bag, I’ll call one of Red’s guys for a pick-up. He’ll dispose of Adriano.”
Olivia helped Blue with Adriano’s body. I’m completely crazy. But her mind and her body knew that the scene from a few hours earlier was real. Blue was real, and in his current form, he didn’t look anything like what she’d expected a werewolf to look like. His arms were longer, and he was hunched over as if he could barely hold himself up. His mouth was full of razor-sharp teeth that prevented him from speaking clearly. She could understand him, but barely. His abdomen, covered with a smattering of hair, did not hide the true power underneath as each ab muscle protruded, showcasing his strength. Blue’s form scared her, but his eyes roamed over her with a familiarity that had her skin flushing. Her head hurt trying to digest her current state. Olivia looked down and worried her bottom lip. Her body felt heavy. She needed to understand everything she’d been through but doubted her level of comprehension.
What if I hadn’t gone on that trip?
Then she’d never have met Blue. Or any of the others. She’d be ignorant of the things that people thought were a myth.
Yeah, but would that be such a bad thing? Ignorance is bliss, after all.
Olivia prided herself on knowing the outcomes of things. Weighing the good against the bad. That’s what she did. Taking a seat in her oversized chair, she pulled the pad and pen that sat on the end table into her lap and started to write.
Lists.
That made sense. Rubbing a hand over her heart, she recounted the incident in the woods. The Hunters were there looking for something. Somehow, they happened upon her camp. It could have been for any number of reasons, but what if it was one thing in particular? Could they have known the outcome of future events? If vampires and werewolves were real, that meant that other mythical beings were real, too. Blue had mentioned witches as well with their magical dynamite. But she hadn’t had time to dwell on that fact. Would they consider her grandmother a witch? She knew her abuela would agree that she was a witch. The Shadow Mare was real. Hell, she’d been to another realm. Given the Silver Arrow of Power.
How did Adriano know to show up at her apartment? He’d been waiting for her. Them. You didn’t kill the other Hunters. True. They could have alerted their counterparts. Olivia shook her head. It couldn’t be a coincidence. None of it. Her abuela told her things happen because they are meant to. Nothing is coincidence. If that were the case, it meant that the outcome would have always been the same whether she went on the trip to Alaska or not. She, Blue, and the others had been destined to meet.
A floorboard creaked in the hallway, alerting Olivia to Blue’s presence.
“I may have broken your sink,” he said in a garbled voice.
“Doesn’t matter. We need to talk.”
Blue’s large, aquamarine eyes watched her intently.
“All of this was supposed to happen,” Olivia informed him.
“All of what?” Blue tried to sit on the sofa, but it dipped dangerously low to the ground, the wood inside the couch cracking under his weight.
“You’d better take the floor.” Olivia pointed to the open space between the coffee table and the television. She didn’t want him to feel uncomfortable, so she pulled the large pillows from the sofa and joined him on the floor.
“You don’t have to sit down here with me.”
“But I want to. It’s no trouble at all.”
He grunted.
“What did you want to talk about?”
“You said I’m your mate. That destiny has given us the chance to become whole, right?”
He nodded, but no words left his lips.
“What about the rest of the situation. Adriano, the Arrow, my journey to Xosha. It would have happened regardless, right?”
Another nod.
“Why do you think that is? How did Adriano know to come here? Besides the obvious, of course, but what if it goes back further than that. What if the Hunters were seeking me all along?”
“Anything is possible.”
“Right, but how?”
Blue shook his head, frowning. His back straightened, and his posture seemed rigid. Eyes wide, he stared at her. “The only way for that to happen is impossible. Anna has been dead for centuries.”
“Who is Anna?”
Blue swallowed before speaking. “She was the daughter of Emperor Alexios I. She could see into the future. The only one of her kind as far as anyone knew.”
“How do you know she’s dead?”
“She fell from a castle wall in Constantinople.”
“But you didn’t see her die, did you?”
“I buried her myself,” Blue said in all seriousness.
“Maybe you buried her, but maybe she came back. I don’t think it was a coincidence that those Hunters were in the woods and happened upon my camp. They were looking for something. Maybe they were tipped off.”
“Anna’s dead,” Blue repeated.
“Maybe, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t someone else out there like her. Why would someone want to gift me with the Arrow? You don’t find it strange that you’re tied to the Hunters through Adriano and Ambrogio? I’m your destined mate. You’re impervious to silver, and Nerina is the first hybrid. What if all of those events were foretold, and someone is ensuring that it all goes according to plan?”
“Maybe, but there is only one way to find out.”
“What way is that?”
“Tomorrow. Tonight, you need to rest. I’ll keep watch.”
Olivia didn’t argue. Her bones ached, and her neck felt stiff. She didn’t want to leave Blue out in the living room alone, though.
“You can sleep in my room.”
He looked down at himself and then over at her.
“Like this?”
Standing, Olivia yawned.
“Unless you can change back, I don’t see any other way. I’ll make us a pallet on the floor.”
“Us?” His eyebrows arc
hed in question. His Berserker form was straight out of an Underworld flick, minus the long snout. The hair covering his body, only covered his arms, legs, and upper chest. The rest of him was more pronounced. His jaw bone sharper, his eyebrows thicker, and his hair longer, covered his pointy ears.
“Yeah, what can I say? I’ve gotten used to sleeping with you.” Olivia gave him a weary smile and made her way back to her room. She pulled more blankets from the cabinet and brought the pillows from the living into her bedroom. Blue’s massive body next to hers took some getting used to. He didn’t move a lot, but she did.
“Are you uncomfortable?” he rumbled.
“No, getting used to sleeping next to you in full Berserker form is itchy.”
“Itchy?”
“Yeah, the hair on your arms and legs is all wiry.”
In his orgasm-inducing voice, he hushed her, his large hand stroking carefully over her head. He soothed her, and although she hadn’t admitted to him how scared she was, her body relaxed next to his, and Olivia fell into a deep, restful sleep.
14
Hooves shook the earth. Her feet, although planted, lost their balance. But only for a moment. The field was alive and dancing with battle. The pikemen advanced forward. Cattle being led to their deaths. Men atop horses waited in the rear. The one she waited for had yet to show his face. Fear didn’t clog her throat. Weaker fools had tried to do what only she could accomplish. Death and the smell of men caught in the throes of their last breath salted the air with oppression. These men wanted to do her harm. From her vantage point on the hill, she could look down on the battle and listen as the clang of swords met the flesh they ripped into. If the great mother could see her now, she’d be proud.
The sun still hadn’t risen, but once it did, it would give away her location.
“Come and find me,” a voice said on the wind. “Don’t let them keep me. Find me, find me now. I’ll show you the way.”
Find whom? What?
Aiming her arrow into the battle, she still wasn’t able to find her target. Where was the beast? The commander of the guard.
